Stratton Mountain

It rained overnight but stopped by morning, so while I had to carry a wet tent, I started hiking with dry weather. It took us a while to get back to the trailhead I’d gotten off at since it was a gravel Forest Service road and a lot of the connecting roads are still closed from past storms, so I didn’t start hiking until almost 10. I was feeling good and ready to go with my hospital shoe on.

The trail I went over today was relatively easy so it was a nice tryout for my foot. I was going 1.5 – 2 mph the whole time, not bad actually. Once I got the hang of walking in the shoe on uneven ground, it was pretty easy. I did stub that toe once, which was pretty painful, but otherwise the injury didn’t bother me at all, and it feels fine now, at the end of the day. I am taking ibuprofen for it still.

I went over Stratton Mountain today, the highest in southern Vermont, and where the ideas for both the Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail were conceived. There is a cabin built in 1928 at the top, in addition to a fire tower, and caretakers live there half the year. I talked to Jeanne for ninety minutes up there. She and her husband were fire watchers for the state in the 60s and 70s and now they’re back in the same cabin taking care of the summit and trails.

I finally got going back down the mountain because it felt like it was going to start raining soon. It actually held off though and I was able to make it to the bottom without issue and start along a plateau in a wilderness area. It had been slightly spitting for about an hour when I came to a stream with a nice camp site nearby. I had done 10.3 miles at that point and it was 5:30 so I was ready for dinner. I decided to stop for the day since I’d already accomplished enough without hiking in the rain too.

I made it through camp chores and dinner and am now in my tent and the rain is still holding off. I hope it passes by tonight for a dry day tomorrow.

Have climbed Stratton many times and alpine skied the “front face” also. Looking forward to skiing the Kelly Stand Road soon. Praying for the rain to go away and bring on the SNOW? New HOK skis are raring to go. That entire area is a favorite of mine. Stratton Pond is soooooo beautiful, as is Grout and Somerset. Thanks for sharing.